


End of the Innocence.

by Debi_C



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Post-Series, references to characters previously known in cannon.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 09:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 17,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2186901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Debi_C/pseuds/Debi_C
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack has a sudden career change/retirement and is at the end of his rope.  WARNING: The bunny hops where it will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Daniel Jackson was sitting at his desk in his home office/library when the door bell rang. He wasn't expecting anyone and desperately hoped it wasn't Vala with some wild hare scheme that she wanted him to participate in. He was still paying for the last shopping trip.

As he made his way to the front door he realized that it was raining. The storm front that had been hanging around the mountains that framed Colorado Springs must have made its way down into the city. The fire he had started in the hearth was dying down and he thought it would need stoking soon. As he passed the kitchen he could smell his Stuffers lasagna baking. 

Daniel peeked through the peep hole in the door and, for a moment, didn't recognize his visitor. Once he did, he quickly pulled the door open.

The tall figure stepped in out of the rain and shrugged droplets of water on the carpet. “Damn, I was afraid you were out. It's cold as hell out there.”

The archaeologist helped his guest get out of the wet coat and hung it on the rack standing close by the door. “Well, I wasn't expecting anyone much less you. What are you doing here Jack?”

Jack coughed and stamped his feet then saw the glow of the fireplace. He headed for it immediately. “I started to call, but then chickened out.”

Daniel looked at him curiously. “Why? And do you want some coffee?”

“Yes to the coffee.” the older grey haired man replied with a crooked grin. “I knew if you were here you'd have some hot.”

While O'Neill stood close to the fire's warmth, Daniel went into the kitchen and poured them both a cup from the warm pot. Glancing towards his old friend, he opened the cabinet door, pulled out a bottle and added a generous dollop of Glenlivet to Jacks. He carried it back to the older man who took it gratefully. 

He took a cautious sip of the hot drink and almost choked. “A little surprise there too.” 

The younger man looked at him carefully, taking in the tired expression and grey face of his past companion. “You looked like you needed it.” He motioned to the couch. “Have a seat.” 

After Jack had relaxed on the overstuffed velvet couch for a long quiet time, Daniel turned to face him. “So, what's going on? Can you stay awhile?”

Jack chuckled bitterly into the cup. “Oh, yeah. As long as I want. In fact, I'm looking for a place to stay.”

Daniel looked at him curiously. “Really? Well, of course you'll stay here. But....well, nevermind.” He sensed it might be a difficult subject. “I have lasagna in the oven so there's plenty for dinner. And,” the younger man chuckled. “My old room is available.”

Jack smiled at the comment. “You know if I had realized that you wanted this house I could have made it a lot easier on both of us.”

Daniel had gone into the kitchen and was checking their food. “What?' He asked as he pulled the bubbling aluminum container out of the oven and sat it on the stove top.

“I said I would have sold you the house outright if you'd told me you wanted it.”

“Oh. Well I was going to Atlantis at that point so it wasn't a good idea.” He grabbed two plates, some silverware, and a couple of beers and set them on the kitchen cabinet. “Come on, its almost ready.” 

Jack reluctantly left the warmth of the fire and sauntered over to the kitchen where he shook his head at the beer. “Been drinking too much of this stuff lately. I think I'll stick with coffee.”

Daniel frowned. “That bad, huh?”

“That bad.” Jack gave him a little grin. “But hey, lets eat this and I'll tell you later so I don't ruin my appetite.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack briefs Daniel on the latest news from Washington DC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of a crossover with SG Atlantis but no appearances, just yet. Probably later. I'm basically taking notes from a very disgruntled fired General. I don't know what's going to happen next. Wish me luck.

Several hours later they were both sitting in the living room in front of a blazing fire with their cups of hot coffee in hand. Daniel was looking at his friend critically. Jack had definitely aged. The gray hair had gone completely white, the slender body had put on more that a few pounds and his eyes were haunted. “Jack,” he said gently. “Jack, what happened?”

His old friend put his cup down on the coffee table and stretched, allowing his whole body to participate in the action. He then put his arms out over the entire back of the couch. “Well,” he began with a bitter grin. “As you know I am not the most politically correct person around.”

Daniel had to smile. He'd heard Jack during some of his more emotional outbursts. “Yeah, I got that.”

“To make a long story short I rather vehemently disagreed with the Powers that Be on some of their decisions.” He shook his head. “They want to keep Atlantis here and basically disassemble her.”

The archaeologist could only try to put that together in his mind. After a few minutes, he finally finally took a breath. “Don't they know she's an Artificial Intelligence, that's she basically alive?”

“Sheppard and I tried to explain that to them. I think we made it worse.” He frowned. “Now some of them think she's dangerous and needs to be deactivated.”

“What did Sheppard say?”

“They almost had to call security. If I hadn't been there I think he'd be in custody.”

Daniel took a deep breath and scowled. “So? What finally happened.”

“I somehow managed to get a postponement. I called everyone I could find to support our position, but ultimately I was shot down and” he grunted what could have been a laugh. “I have been replaced as Head of Home World Security.”

“WHAT! Why?” Daniel was shocked.

“It seems there has been an opinion” he make quotation marks with his hands' “that I have been compromised by too much interaction with alien technology. It seems they think I'm a little nutzo and shouldn't have this much authority.”

“That's crazy!” Daniel was shocked. “That's what makes you the perfect man for the job.”

“Well, evidently I'm what's crazy.” Jack leaned forward and picked up his cup of coffee. He stared down into it. “And I think I kind of agree with them.”

Daniel looked at his friend searchingly. “Why? I don't understand.”

“Well, my friend, as you of all people know I've been head sucked by the Ancient Archive twice, sat in the chair in Antarctica, was Jaffaed, Goa'ulded, Tok'raed, cloned and used as a template for a robot. I lost valued members of my team I don't know how many times, and was declared a traitor once or twice. I forget exactly.” He looked at his friend. “And the new guys in Washington don't like or trust me maybe because I got along so well with the previous regime.”

“But that describes all of us, well except Cameron.”

“Oh yeah and not to forget I allowed dangerous aliens to reside on base.”

“Who?”

“Teal'c, Vala, Teyla, Ronon, Nyan, Cassie and, by the way, they think you may be one too.” He leaned back. “You have a questionable history too ya know.”

“Yeah, well me I can understand after the Prior incident, but I was undercover.” Daniel sat back and sighed. “So was Atlantis decided on?”

“She is now at the mercy of the IOA, but you know they've been wanting to get their hands on her ever since she was located.”

“Where's Sheppard?”

Jack shrugged. “Don't know. I suppose he went back to Atlantis. I kinda wish he'd just take off back to the Pegasus Galaxy with her.”

“If he did he'd be charged with treason wouldn't he?”

“Yep, that's probably true.” Jack grinned at his old companion. “It's what I would do.”

A beeping noise sounded from the front closet. Daniel pressed his forefinger to his lips, got up hurriedly and went to the closet. He opened the door and switched off the alarm. He came back over to Jack and pointed up shaking his head wryly. “Well, its really good to see you. You can take me fishing now.”

Jack looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, this spring the trout should be big and feisty in Minnesota. Now that I'm retired we can have some fun without being harassed by the news media.”

Daniel shook his head. His old friend hadn't changed a bit. He went into the kitchen and picked up a pen and some post it notes. On one he wrote. 'Bug alarm. We're being listened to now.'

Jack took it from Daniel. 'How long?'

Another note. 'Just when it went off. Took them a while to find you.' 

'Good.'

“Well, if you don't mind I think I'll hit the hay. I'm tired. I hate flying commercial.” Jack commented to anyone listening.

“Sure,” Daniel replied. “You do know where the guest room is.”

“I ought to.” his friend groused with a grin. “I built it.”

“So you did.” Daniel held out his hand to help the older man up from the soft couch. 

Jack took it gratefully. He as he stood he leaned into Daniel's shoulder and whispered. “Thanks, for everything. '

Daniel just pulled him into a hug. “Anytime,” he whispered back. “Anytime.”


	3. Chapter 3

Five minutes after midnight, a whooshing sound came across the night air. The concrete sidewalk cracked with a pop and a shape pressed itself into the lawn leaving an outline in the damp earth and flattening a rosebush as if stepped on by an overstuffed elephant. Some of the neighborhood dogs barked in response to the odd happening but when their concerned owners looked out there was nothing odd visible to their sleepy eyes. They called their guardians back into the houses and all became silent again.

Suddenly another metallic sound grated from the immediate area and a round hole opened seemingly from nowhere. A bright light shown up the stairs to the front door. A dark clad man stepped out furtively. The doorway closed behind him leaving apparently nothing.

The man stepped up to the doorway and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, he knocked lightly on the wooden door. The bright outside security light came on and the door opened with the security chain in place.

“Doctor Jackson.” the man hissed. “Is General O'Neill here?”

“Colonel Sheppard? What are you doing here?” The door closed briefly and the rattle of the chain coming off its slot sounded. The door opened wider and revealed Jackson standing just inside the door wearing only a pair of plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a zatnikatel in his hand. Behind him stood O'Neill clad in a pair of Simpsons boxers holding a 357 revolver. 

John Sheppard gave them a wiry grin and pushed his way into the house. “Sorry to disturb you but I wanted to be sure that General O'Neill was okay. I kind of left in a hurry this afternoon.” he explained. “I didn't want to be detained by the President's Secret Service.”

As the two older men put down their weapons, both Jack and John looked curiously at Daniel's choice of protection. 

“Just how did you get that out of the SGC?” Jack frowned at his friend. “Does Hank know thats missing?”

Daniel just shrugged. “It was an extra one Teal'c gave me a while back. He said he wanted to be sure I was safe while he was on Dakara. I'm not sure where he got it.”

John was looking at the weapon that the archaeologist was now holding pointed at the floor. “Nice. I wish Ronon had an extra one of his weapons.”

“And, so why are you here and how did you get here?" Jack asked curiously. "There's no car out front.”

“Well, no. No car. But I'm afraid there is a cloaked puddle jumper sitting out there on your rose bushes.” He looked surprised as O'Neill brushed past him and opened the door. 

“Son Of A Bitch!” He exclaimed. “That was a Lady Bird Johnson antique rose bush.” Slamming the door he turned to face the Air Force Colonel. “George gave me that!”

Sheppard looked apologetically at the irate O'Neill. “I'm sorry, General. I was more concerned about you. I wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“Of course I'm okay. I'm just hiding out at my old team mate's house to watch hockey on his cable TV, eat pizza and drink beer until everything calms down. Then I'm going back to Washington DC to get my things and then I'll decide what the hell I'm going to do.” He sighed. “And don't call me General. I was fired at 1327 EST yesterday.”

“Well, Sir. That's the problem.” Sheppard relaxed. “You actually want to leave. I'm just concerned that someone will think you know too much and may want to stop you.” He looked at them. “It was a pretty good guess that you'd come here at first but I'm sure they will want to keep tabs on you in the future.”

“For what?” O'Neill said unhappily as he put the pistol down and led the party into the den. “In case I write that tell all book everyone seems to think I'm capable of?" He sat down and motioned John to do so also. Daniel disappeared into the kitchen and the smell of coffee wafted into the room. He then came to the door way and watched the two Air Force officers. 

John nodded. “Well, actually Sir. That was a concern.”

“Look all I want to do is head to my cabin in Minnesota and fish and duck hunt.” Jack grimaced. “I'll just hope they leave me alone.” 

Daniel brought out some steaming cups of coffee and passed them around. John smiled and nodded. “We really did miss this when we were cut off from Earth. The sorta coffee beans we found just wasn't up to Rodney's standard.”

Jack had been sitting quietly with a thoughtful look on his face. “There is one thing you can do for me.”

Sheppard looked at him questioningly. “Sir?”

“Can you take this damned subcutaneous transmitter out of my arm? I want to leave and I don't want them to be able to beam me up when ever they want too. It was bad enough when Thor used to do it, and I liked him.”

Sheppard looked at him thoughtfully. “I can't do it, but we can go to Atlantis and Carson can.”

“How about me?” Daniel glanced back and forth between the two men.

O'Neill answered. “Only if you want to retire. You need that if you still go off planet just in case you get into trouble.”

“But you can come with and the two of you can decide when the doc takes his out.” Sheppard offered

The three men stood up and Daniel trotted into the kitchen to turn the coffee maker off. Sheppard looked at the cup of real coffee in his hand. “Oh, well. We can get some later.”

“Before you leave?” Jack smiled.

“Yeah, well, we'll see.” John looked at the two men. “If you're ready we can go get the jumper off of your rose garden.”

Daniel nodded. “Yes please. I'd really like that.”

“And so would George.” O'Neill commented dryly as they entered the now open door into visible vehicle interior.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive on Atlantis and meet the command staff. If you missed it in the info area, this is Carson's clone. But he's Carson, none the less.

After a quick trip in the jumper they touched down in the landing bay of Atlantis. Sheppard, O'Neill and Jackson were quickly escorted to the city's medical facility where they were greeted by Carson Beckett.

The man quickly came to their sides and offered his hand. “It's good to see you, General O'Neill and you too, Doctor Jackson.”

Jack took the proffered handshake. “Good to see you again, Doctor Beckett.” he smiled at the physician. “and that's just Jack now.”

“Oh?” He turned and smiled at Jackson. “And Daniel. How are ya lad?”

Daniel smiled and nodded happy to see the Scotsman back in charge of his medical facility.

“So what brings ye to Atlantis? Beckett asked as he led the way into his clinic. “I mean besides a puddle jumper.”

“I was fired.” Jack announced happily. “So I put in my paperwork and hit the road.” He looked at John. “Sheppard here came to check on me at Daniel's house and I asked him for a favor.”

“And what would that be, General?”

Jack looked at John and the Colonel nodded for him to continue. “I want this locator thingy dug out of me.” At Carson's expression he continued. “As long as its in me they can pull me back any time they want. It will cramp my disappearance style.”

Beckett glanced at his Military Commander and Sheppard nodded. He smiled at O'Neill. “Aye, I can see yer concern. It won't be a problem at all. I'll need to find exactly where it is, numb the area and pop it right out.”

“When?” 

“Oh, I just need to access a device to locate it. Why don't you go and get some breakfast...and coffee.”

It occurred to Jack, and Daniel, that it was now early morning. “I guess we could go and try the local eating establishment.” Jackson said encouragingly.

John nodded. “Sure, they do a full meal deal that's at least as good as the one at the Pentagon. Come on, I'll buy.”He smiled at Daniel. "The coffee's pretty good. McKay ordered it."

Daniel looked at John. “Coffee?”

The officer smiled at him. “Real coffee. Rodney made sure it was potable as he put it.” He clapped Daniel on the back. “And if we're lucky he'll be there to help you appreciate it.”

After a good filling breakfast where they did make contact with McKay the four men went back to the sick bay. To no one's surprise, Mister Woolsey was there to greet them.

“Good morning General, Doctor.”

“Na uh, Richard. You were there.” Jack smiled at him. “I am now officially Mr. O'Neill. I'm only visiting to get a small favor then I will disappear.”

“Or not.” Daniel added wryly. “I don't believe that for a minute.”

“Well, disappeared at least as far as this damned locator is concerned.” He looked at his friend then back to Woolsey. “Seriously, I just want off the grid. I mean, I'm not changing my name or anything but I don't want them to be able to 'beam me up Scotty' anymore.” Jack smiled at Beckett. “No offense.”

The physician nodded seriously. “None taken.” He pointed to an empty bed. “Have a seat, now General uh Sir er Jack. This will only take a second.”

As O'Neill hopped up on the indicated bed he extended his left arm. “I think its on this side.” He shook his head. “but I think it moves sometimes.”

“It shouldn't but you can never tell what will happen in a wormhole.”

“That makes me feel better, not.” Sheppard commended wryly.

“Actually its not surprising. General O'Neill is the human with the longest history of going through the Stargate.” Rodney put in. “I would really like to look at your medical records one day and do a comparison study with a control subject.”

Jack frowned at the scientist. “Why didn't Carter ever want to do a study?” He then switched his attention to Beckett who had picked up a machine and started scanning his arm.

McKay got his look, started pacing in the confined area and replied seriously. “Sam is well, was responsible for the everyday working of the Stargate while she was assigned to the SGC. She is probably the second most exposed person in the program.”

“How about me?” Daniel asked curiously.

Rodney turned and looked at him speculatively. “I would say yes, but with your erm, rebirth I believe that your body basically rebooted itself.”

“Twice, he did it twice.” Jack groused

Rodney looked surprised. “Really? Twice? So knowing this I can assure you that you are not good for my either my test subject or my control subject.” he paused a moment as he watched Carson pass the instrument over Jack's arm. “Did your locators survive the experience?”

Daniel frowned. “No, no they didn't. I've been implanted three times.” he grimaced in sympathy as the doctor applied a spray hypo to Jack's arm.

“Ouch, Doc.” Jack complained. “I thought that this wasn't supposed to hurt.”

“I said the procedure won't hurt. The injection will poke a bit.”

Jack rolled his eyes and sat stoically for the doctor. Carson then picked up a piece of technology that was obviously Ancient in design. 

“Though you would be a good Wild Card to accompany my study.” Rodney continued excitedly “Will you be moving to Atlantis?”

“Don't know yet, McKay.” Jack replied. “Right now I just want to lay low.” he watched as Carson gently removed the subcutaneous transmitter from his forearm. Once it was out the doctor swabbed the wound with disinfectant and then slipped another more recognizable tech on his hand. The offended skin closed up neatly without so much as a scar. “Thanks, Beckett. I appreciate this.”

“Can you remove mine also?” Daniel asked.

“Aye, I can but,” he looked at him. “Are you quitting the Stargate program too?”

“Well, I uh, I don't really know yet.”

“We haven't thought that far ahead yet.” Jack commented with a frown. “Everything has gone pretty fast. Yesterday at this time I was a two star general in command of Home World Security. Today, I'm a fired, retired guy who only wants to go home and go fishing.”

“Yeah,” John chuckled. “Like that's gonna happen.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel returns to the SGC and briefs his team.

General Hank Landry was working on the budget for the next years SGC expenditures when he heard the always concerning call of 'Unscheduled Activation' sound over the Command loudspeaker. He slammed the green log book closed and headed for the embarkation room.

When he arrived he discovered Lt Col Mitchell and Vala Mal Doran already on scene. Landry glanced at the younger officer and asked “Who is it?”

“It's SG1's code, Sir.” Cam replied. “Teal'c is off world but he's not due back for several days.”

The General nodded and looked over at the technician on duty. “Open the iris.” turned to the only members of SG1 presently on base. “I hope he didn't have any problems dealing with the Council. Dakara's been unsettled since the Ori Invasion.”

“Oh Muscles can handle them.” Vala commented. “He and Braytac had lots of support after that little thing.”

The iris opened to reveal the wormhole and after a few seconds Daniel Jackson stepped through the horizon.

“Doctor Jackson?” Landry asked in a shocked tone. “Where were you? How did you get off world?”

Daniel stood on the bottom of the ramp, looked up at the concerned trio and waved. “Hello. Uh, well, I guess we need to talk.”

The General sighed and waved back with a come hither motion. “Apparently so.”

 

“So, General O'Neill came to your house, and then you and he went to Atlantis. They removed his subcutaneous transponder and he stayed behind when you decided to come back here.”

Jackson nodded. “That's about it. He was pretty upset when he got to my house. He said he'd been fired, put his retirement papers in and left Washington. Sheppard was concerned about him and showed up at my house looking for Jack when he couldn't locate him at his apartment.” Daniel shrugged. “Evidently a meeting that took place there got pretty heated. Jack had sent John out of the room to get him clear of any fallout. He took the brunt of the blame and he blew up at the President and the Cabinet Members who were there. He said he just wanted to disappear so they helped him.”

Mitchell leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him. “Did the General say what the meeting was about?”

“Yes, but I'm not sure how classified it is, uh was.” Daniel grimaced. “I don't want to get you all in trouble too. It's probably bad enough I know.”

Landry nodded. “I can guess. Atlantis has been the subject of a lot of high security discussions lately.” He sighed. “How many people know you're involved?”

“I don't know. None or a few or even a lot. It depends on what happens next. I'm sure they will try to find Jack and when they can't they'll probably be upset.”

“If he stays on Atlantis, won't Woolsey have to give him up?” Vala commented. “He'll be an illegal immigrant or something. Has he actually broken any laws?”

Landry pursed his lips. “No, not technically. If he was fired, and I have no doubt if he really blew up at the President he would have been, he can put in his retirement papers at any time. He's served a lot longer than many Air Force Officers.”

“He'd probably be considered a security risk though.” Mitchell mused.

“That is just stupid.” Jackson replied heatedly. “I'm more of a security risk as are Vala and Teal'c. None of us took the oath or made any promises other than non-disclosure statements. Calling Jack a security risk is ridiculous.”

“Whoa, whoa there Jackson.” Cam held his hand up in a calming motion. “I didn't say he was, I just said he might be considered one. Hell, he's the reason I'm here. I'm on y’alls side.”

Daniel took a deep breath and smiled weakly. “Sorry, Mitchell. I'm just a little worried about him. He's out there and basically on the run. Idon't know what he's going to do.”

Landry nodded. “Do you have any idea?”

“No, but Atlantis is on his side. I mean the city herself, not the people.” He looked around at his team. “He can go through the Stargate and go anywhere in two galaxies. There are lots of worlds that will accept him as a refugee if he wanted to throw in with them. Or the city could give him shelter and no one could find him.” Daniel shrugged. “Or I could go home and find him there with a hot pizza and cold beer. I just don't know.”

“You still have your locator, correct.” the General looked closely at his lead archaeologist.

Daniel smiled. “I do. I'm not ready to retire yet. But if they start in on me I make no promises.”

Vala looked at him and winked. “Don't worry Daniel. I know a few worlds that we could run away to if we need shelter. I have a wide circle of contacts left I've never plumbed the depths of.”

He chucked at Jack's imagined response to that. “Thanks but I really don't want to be the Han Solo of the Pegasus galaxy.”

“Well, this meeting is considered an SGC secret on a need to know basis.” Landry shook his head. “I just hope Jack hasn't bitten off more than he can chew.”

Daniel rubbed a red mark on his right forearm. “I do too, General Landry. I do too.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting of the minds on Atlantis

(Previously to chap 5)

Jack and Daniel stood in front of the open wormhole waiting the few minutes it took the GDO to identify him so the archaeologist could go back to the SGC.

“See you around, Doctor Jackson.” Jack commented wryly as he extended a hand to his friend.

“Oh no you don't. Every time you say that and I shake your hand we don't see each other for a year.” Daniel hugged his friend and looked at him with worried eyes.

The older man sighed and returned the hug. “Okay. I'll call you tomorrow from where ever I wind up. Just don't refuse any collect calls from men with strange names.”

“Okay. I've always known you were a little strange.”

“Said the pot to the kettle.” Jack frowned. “But be careful. What are you going to tell Landry?”

Daniel shrugged. “The truth but the truth without embellishment. I can't lie. They are our friends you know.”

“Yeah, but don't cut your own throat.”

“Yes, Sir.” Daniel grinned. “I'll be careful.” He rubbed a new red mark on his right forearm.

“Stop that. You'll call attention to it.”

“It itches. I hate these things.”

“I know, but implanting an Atlantis transponder is good insurance in case you get picked up and held against your will.” Jack frowned. “I trust Hank and SG1 but there are people who would try to get info from you.”

“I know.” Daniel looked around at the people of Atlantis who were trying hard not to pay attention to them. “Well, call me tomorrow. I'll be expecting you.”

“Later.”

Then Daniel entered the wormhole and disappeared.

 

(continuing on)

Sheppard came up behind O'Neill. “Think he'll be alright?”

Jack turned around and smiled automatically. “Daniel can talk the scales off an Unas. Unless someone really wants to dig too closely into his true story of my disappearance.”

The two men started to walk towards Woolsey's office. “I noticed you didn't tell him where you were planning to go.”

“Oh, not because I don't trust him,” the older man smiled “its because I don't know myself.”

Sheppard tapped on the door of the command office next to the Gate room, then pushed it open. Woolsey looked up and waved them to chairs in front of his desk.”

“So, General....”

“Jack.”

The civilian administrator frowned. “So, Jack. How can we help you?”

“Well,” the older man frowned as he picked his words carefully. “I guess I need to find out what was said at the meeting after I was uh, excused.”

Sheppard nodded. “I'd like to know that too.”

“Hum.” Woolsey looked at the two men. “It was, from my point of view, very disturbing.” He looked up at the sound of the door opening. “Ah, good. Dr. McKay. I was just about to call you. You need to be here for this also since its turning into a briefing.”

“Humf! I must have missed my email and my ear piece is out of order again.” the scientist groused at the group. 

“Sorry, Rodney this just kind of started. It wasn't scheduled.” John drawled out with a grin. “We were just seeing Daniel off and got together to help Jack here with his immediate plans.”

Rodney looked surprised. “Daniel's gone? Why? I thought you were both going to stay here so we can get back to Pegasus.”

“He's going to keep in touch and you can always pull him back if he gets into trouble?” Jack commented.

“If,” McKay snorted. “The man just reeks of trouble. He'll be here within the week.”

Woolsey grunted and looked directly at O'Neill who shrugged. He continued on his train of thought. “As far as the rest of the meeting, after you dismissed Colonel Sheppard and then you were told to leave the conversation was not constructive. The Generals continued to want to invade Atlantis as if she were Berlin. The IOA scientists did mention disabling Atlantis, though there were told they could not disassemble the city.” Lights raised and lowered in the office as if someone was making an off stage comment.”

“Over my dead body!” Sheppard spoke as if to calm an impending storm. “We're going back to Pegasus and taking care of the rest of the Wraith.”

“That was not even discussed.” Woolsey said wearily. “The committee believes that since the Alterans left Pegasus after losing a war and then interbred with Terrans, Atlantis belongs with their descendents. Their argument is actually your existence. You people with the ATA gene is their proof.”

“That's a bunch of crap!” Jack said tiredly putting his head in his hand. “All humans in the galaxy are the descendents of the Tauri and I'm pretty sure if we checked around there are ATA carriers on every planet. There are probably some in Pegasus right now. What about them?”

“General....” Woolsey started.

Sheppard shook his head at his titular boss. “Earth does not take precedence right now. The wraith and Pegasus does.”

“John's right.” McKay agreed heartily. “We need to go, orders or not. Who knows what's happening out there.”

“I don't know, Colonel. We can't just fly away. There are people here who need to make a choice before you hijack Atlantis.” Woolsey looked at him steadily. “Including myself.”

“And me.” Jack frowned at them. “I'm not sure I'm ready to go dashing off to another galaxy. I'm not Luke Skywalker you know.”

“James T. Kirk?” John grinned at him.

“Not even close.” Jack returned. “Right now I feel more like Philip Nolan. I need to take a break and think a little bit.”

“I agree, O'Neill.” Woolsey smiled at the older man. “It has been a rather upsetting several days. Colonel, why don't you get our guest some accommodations and let him rest for a while.” He turned to O'Neill. “Take as long as you need. We won't do anything without your knowledge in the mean time.”

“Thanks. I think I will.” Jack nodded. “Maybe some food and a nap.” he shook his head. “Damn, that sounded old.”

“Don't worry, Jack.” Woolsey said. “It'll be alright.”

After the two men left the office, McKay looked curiously at Woolsey. “Who's Philip Nolan?”

“There is a short story by an American author, Edward Everett Hale. It's the story of an American Army Lieutenant, Philip Nolan, who renounces his country and is sentenced to spend the rest of his days at sea.”

“But, that's ridiculous. General O'Neill is a real hero. I mean we may not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but the man has saved Earth a dozen times.” Rodney appeared shocked at the idea.

“To us, Doctor McKay. But the general public do not even know his name.” He sighed. “And until the Stargate Program is made public, he'll remain that way.” Woolsey looked up at the scientist. “As will we.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the story behind the story The Man Without A Country here's what Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Without_a_Country


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone wants to know where Jack is.

Early the next morning Daniel was awakened by his cell phone ringing. “Hullo.” He answered fuzzily.

“Hey, its me. Is that you?”

He immediately woke at the sound of the familiar voice. “Yeah, its me. Are you okay?”

“Yup, still at the spa.” Jack replied. “All is good. I'm enjoying the fishing.”

“Good. Don't fall in.”

“Nope. Hey, I'm gonna go. You stay out of trouble. Say hi to everyone.”

“I will.” Daniel let the connection drop. While he wanted to talk to Jack, he didn't want to be on the line long enough for someone to trace their conversation. He wanted Jack to make his own decision but he also wanted his friend to make a safe, sane one. Oh, boy. What was he thinking? This was Jack O'Neill he was considering.”

He got up, dressed and headed into Cheyenne Mountain. So far no one had come to talk to him, but if and when they did, he wanted to be in the relative safety of the SGC.

When he arrived on base there was a yellow sticky note on his door for him to report to General Landry's office. Daniel pushed it open, dropped his computer bag on his desk and headed to his apparent appointment.

Arriving at the Command area he walked in and, seeing the inner door to Landry's office was closed, he said hello to Chief Harriman and helped himself to a fresh cup of coffee. "What's going on?" He asked Walter.

"Some people from Washington DC showed up." the Chief replied flatly in obvious disapproval.

"About?"

"I think its about General O'Neill," Walter replied. "And you."

"Hum, that's not good." They shared a look of general unhappiness. As he was topping his coffee off with cream and sugar, Mitchell and Vala entered. 

“There he is.” Cam said genially. “I see you came to work in the usual way today.”

Daniel gave him a curious look and Vala took it up. “Yes, my Daniel. It seems there has been some concerns about your safety.” She picked up another cup and started making her own coffee.

“What are you talking about?” He asked confused.

“Well,” Cam patted him on the shoulder as he walked past him towards the inner office. “There has been people here awefully worried about you.” He taps lightly on the door.

“Who?” As he asked the question, he could hear Landry calling for SG1 to enter. When they walked through the door Daniel could see several people already seated next to the General and his desk. 

“Ah, Doctor Jackson. I see you got your message this morning.” Landry smiled at him. It wasn't a nervous smile so much as concerned. “Have a good night?”

“Yes I did thank you.” He smiled his own smile. “And who are these people?”

“Well, I'd like to introduce you to some people from the IOA. Mister Smith, Miss Green and Mister Jones,” The General indicated each one as he announced their names. “This is Doctor Jackson, who you were all so concerned about.”

Daniel had a quick flashback to an old TV show who advertised its characters as white, black and blonde. This team fit that description to a T. But he managed not to smile or even say it out loud. He took a seat in one of the office's remaining chairs. “Why is that?” He noticed his Commander and the beautiful Alien fem-fatal both took their seats on either side of him. “Surely my sleeping habits are not interesting enough for all this worry.”

The tall dark haired white guy shifted in his seat. “Well Doctor Jackson, since we've lost track of your friend, Jack O'Neill, and you admit to being the last person seeing him we didn't want you to disappear also.”

“Why would I do that?” He sipped the hot coffee nonchalantly. “I have runes to translate for SG3 and we have a mission today don't we?” Daniel glanced at his team chief.”

“Yeah,” Cam nodded happily. “We do have one...unless someone has changed it.” He looked questioningly at the General.

“No, you still are needed on Dakara to assist the new Jaffa government.” Landry offered his version of support to his people.

“Well, perhaps Doctor Jackson could stay behind this time.” Mister Jones, a youngish looking slender black man, said flatly. “There are a few questions we need to ask him.”

Daniel looked around the room. “Well, if they are only a few, why not ask them now and that way we can still go? No sense in wasting the day.”

The three agents glances at each other and Mister Smith nodded. “Very well. It's no secret that General O'Neill is missing and considered AWOL.”

Vala looked at Cam. “What is this AWOL thing? He hasn't turned into a wall has he? I know he was once frozen into a cubicle in Antartica but that shouldn't happen again should it?”

“No, it means” Cam cleared his throat. “Absent without official leave.”

“But I heard that he was told to leave by your leader. Isn't that official?” She looked innocently confused.

Daniel smiled at her acting ability. “Jack told me night before last that he'd been fired and he'd put in his paperwork to retire. I don't think he's even actually absent officially.”

“We are unaware that any of that occurred.” Jones replied coolly. “The President, our Leader as you say, needs to approve it.” 

“I don't believe that to be true, Mr. uh Jones.” Landry put in dryly steepling his fingers on his desk. “Major General O'Neill has retired before and was only reactivated when the Stargate was opened the second time. As I understand it he could have retired anytime in the last fifteen years either as a Colonel or a General.”

“Well, be that as it may, he is not responding to our phone calls and his subcutaneous transponder is not working either.” Ms Green, a blonde who resembled Carter except her eyes were a harsh cold blue, said unhappily. “We are trying to locate him and have been unable to do so.” She turned on Daniel. “Do you know where O'Neill is?”

“Why no I don't.” Daniel answered honestly. “He came to my house two nights ago very upset. He had dinner and spent the night. Colonel Sheppard arrived, concerned about Jack and took us both to Atlantis.”

“Why did you go to Atlantis?” Mister Smith asked curiously.

“They were concerned with his state of mind. He's good friends with Richard Woolsey and we, John and I, thought talking to him could help Jack.”

“Why would you think that?”

“We just did. It seemed like a good idea and it afforded Jack the protection that he couldn't get at my residence.”

“Protection from who?” Jones asked.

“Whom. Protection from whom and that would be you.” Daniel continued, more firmly. “Jack was afraid that he would be disappeared.”

“He has disappeared.” Smith commented.

“No, he's just not where you can find him.” Daniel smiled.

“Do you know where he is?” Jones pressed the subject for a second time.

Daniel shook his head at the three. “No, I do not. Jack decided that it would put me in danger of being disappeared also.” He looked at Landry who nodded silently. “I have too much work to do to be disappeared.”

“You're sure?” Green asked a last time.

“I'm sure.” Daniel nodded agreeably. “But if you think about it, he's really not AWOL. He was um, fired on Thursday, came to my house yesterday and today is, if I'm not mistaken, Saturday. So why does he need to ask for time off?”

“I beg your pardon?” Jones appeared confused.

“Why does he need to ask?” Daniel continued.

“He may be a Major General but he can't just go running around all over the place without permission.” The blonde said firmly.

“He's been doing that for the last fifteen years.” Mitchell spoke up. “He's not going to stop now.” He looked at Landry. “Who does the General report to?”

“Chief of Staff.” Landry answered succinctly.

“Agent Smith, have you asked him?” Mitchell looked directly at the man who turned a suspicious shade of pink.

“Asked who?” Smith retorted hotly.

General Landry spoke up. “Why Mister Smith, that would be General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” Hank shook his head. “You should keep up on things like that if you want get ahead in Washington. So why don't you contact his office and see if Jack has been in touch with him.”

“But why would he bother to call them?” Smith asked.

“To advise them of the change in his work status, to ask for some days off and to put in his retirement papers.” Landry said in a slightly loud and slow voice as if speaking to a slow child. “Because that's what a General does when he is removed from command.”

Daniel looked up at them with a twinkle in his eye. “Fired. Gone. Vamoosed. Not AWOL.”

The three agents looked at each other. Mister Smith nodded and they got up in unison. “Thank you for the information. We will do some further investigation into the disappearance of General O'Neill. We appreciate your cooperation, Doctor Jackson.”

“Oh, anytime.” Daniel stood and smiled coyly. “I'm sure you know where you can find me, that is unless I'm somewhere else.”

“Uh, yes of course." The agent seems a little confused by his statement. "Thank you General Landry, good to meet you Colonel Mitchell and Ms Mal Doran.” He eyed the other SG1 members as if memorizing their features. Mitchell waved, and Vala gave them her patented come hither look. The three turned and left.

After they had cleared the office and was confirmed out of earshot Landry turned to look at his premier archaeologist. “Do you know where Jack is?”

“No, I don't. I knew where he was yesterday but not now.” He shrugged. "He could be anywhere."

“Do you know where he's going?”

Daniel smiled and looked around at his friends. “No, I really don't. I don't think Jack knows where he's going yet, he's just gone.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is enjoying his visit to the city of Atlantis

Mr. Jack O'Neill woke up in his amazing apartment on Atlantis. He climbed out of the bed that seemingly adjusted to his body shape and stretched to his full six foot two inches. He entered the cubicle that John had indicated was the shower. He touched a pressure point that had been pointed out to him and the water began to spray from two hundred and forty degrees and included the ceiling. It seemed to be calibrated at ninety eight point six degrees. The water developed a slippery foam and then a clear water. It was, well, amazing didn't quite cover it. As he stepped out of the shower, a warm breeze wafted around him, cooling and drying his body. Nobody had seen fit to brief the SGC about these amenities. He was going to like hiding out here. 

He tried to call Daniel again, but his friend didn't answer. He had mentioned a possible mission Thursday when he had last seen him so he refused to worry at this point. After dressing and finding the dining facility, Jack was surprised to see Woolsey already seated and eating.

“Good morning Jack.” the little civilian administrator greeted him as he sat down. “How did you sleep?”

“Amazing, Richard.” he looked sideways at his host. “Nobody told me about this amazing style of living the last time I was here.”

“Well, to be honest not everyone gets the same treatment from Atlantis. And you could say she was not at her best when we were here with the so-called Altarans several years ago. I believe she was confused.”

O'Neill stabbed his ham viciously. “Damned Replicators. None of us knew what hit us. She's forgiven.” The overhead lighting seemed a glow a bit brighter. Jack leaned over to Richard as if in confidence, “So how long have you known about her being sentient?”  
"It wasn't until I replaced Colonel Carter and then Sheppard kept insisting that she is. And that she is a she.” He sipped his coffee. “But then I'm not a natural gene carrier like you are.” He smiled. “Atlantis evidently likes you.”

“And I like her. Too bad I can't stay.”

“Why can't you?” John Sheppard pulled a chair back one handed and sat down next to them. “We can always use a new ATA in the city.”

“Well, they may not notice for a while but sooner or later I think they'll figure it out.”

“Well, General.” O'Neill waived at him due to a mouthful of eggs. “Sorry, Jack. But I think they're in the process of doing just that. Jackson gave you up.”

“No.” He disagreed “He told the truth. I had told him to. Daniel can't lie worth a damn, but he can tell the truth in many and varied ways.” 

Richard smiled, “I can attest to that.” He looked at his military commander. “What happened?”

Rodney plopped his tray down next to Johns. “Some Neanderthals looking for a missing Major General. I took the call and told them I hadn't seen him recently.” He proceeded to put eggs into his mouth with great enthusiasm.

John nodded. “Rodney has no problem lying to the IOA. He considers it an Olympic sport.”

“Did you learn who they were?” Woolsey asked.

“Some guy named Smith, like I believed that.” Rodney munched out. “Wanted to know if you were being held here. I told him a. that we don't hold anyone against their will and b. that we had no spare Generals hanging around.” He stopped to drink his coffee. “Seriously! Does he think we're idiots? People get kidnapped from here.”

“Smith.” Woolsey mused. “Could be anyone. Have you tried to call Daniel today?”

“Yeah, but he didn't answer and I didn't leave a message.” He leaned back to finish his coffee. “I picked up one of these cheap phones at the local convenience store. It doesn't have a GPS and it doesn't identify the caller.”

“Will he call you back?” Rodney asked.

“Don't know. He may not be on Earth.” O'Neill shrugged. “It's hit and miss at best.”

“Are you worried?” Sheppard sipped his coffee thoughtfully.

“Every time Daniel goes through the StarGate I worry. I can't even tell you how many times he was thought dead or was actually dead even when I was his team chief. Then when I took over the SGC it kept happening. Washington was no better.” Jack shook his head. “You know how it is. Some people are just too smart for their own good.”

“I'm in touch with that emotion.” John looked steadily at Rodney. 

“Hey! I resent that. Jackson's the problem. He wasn't here a whole day when he got us kidnapped by the Anti-Asgard.”

“He did, did he? And how did he do that?” Jack tried his best to hide his grin.

“Well, we were walking along down this new corridor talking about light sconces when he started twisting them and this door opened into the new lab.” he waved his arms around. “Then there they were. It wasn't my fault.”

Jack nodded. “That's the way he is. I swear he's the SGC's shit magnet.”

“And you're the number two shit magnet.” John looked over at Rodney. “I will never again let you two go anywhere without Ronon again.”

“It won't work. Daniel would just take Teal'c along or run off and leave him.” Jack got up to get another cup of hot coffee. “Just don't ever let them go anywhere together.”

“That's not gonna work!” Rodney complained. “He's too good at what he does, so am I. Besides," he protested. "I'm not the one who keeps getting kidnapped, shot, turned into a bug, lost in time...you're more like Daniel than I am.”

"You get shot." Jon corrected. "In the...."

"Just that once." Rodney admitted with downcast eyes.

“Him and Carter. When they worked together, wonder twins; but when they butted heads, disaster duo.”

“I can see where that would be difficult.” Woolsey commented.

“You have no idea.” Jack said dryly as he headed for the coffee urn.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SG1 goes missing and Jack wants to know why.

Woolsey was sitting at his desk. No matter where he was, paperwork seemed to be paramount. Even on the magical city of Atlantis I s had to be dotted and T s had to be crossed. He was beginning to think about taking a break when his communicator vibrated against his ear.

“Woolsey here.”

“Richard!” an unfamiliar voice spoke to him. “How are you?”

“Fine,” he replied suspiciously. “Who am I speaking to?”

“Oh, sorry. This is Hank Landry. How's everything going?”

It took him a split second to realize that someone had patched the Commander of the SGC straight through to his comm set. He'd never gotten a phone call like this before but then, he'd never had anyone with a phone to call him. “General Landry, I wasn't expecting to hear from you. I'm sorry I didn't recognize your voice. Are you on Atlantis?”

“No, no. Still here at the SGC.” the other man coughed. “I was just wondering, if you've possibly heard from SG1? They've not checked in and aren't answering their com units.”

“Why no. I haven't seen any of them since Doctor Jackson accompanied General O'Neill here last week.”

“Is Jack still there?” The question was blunt, but not unexpected.

“Frankly I don't know.” Woolsey replied honestly. “I haven't seen him today. I'm not holding him prisoner if that's what you're asking.”

“No, no of course not but if he were we still have some people here who want to talk to him.” Landry said irritatedly then continued on his original question. “I though perhaps he'd of heard from them.”

“I would of course tell you if they gated in, but they have not.” Woolsey replied. “I would not allow you to worry like that.”

“Well, I appreciate that. We are getting a little concerned.” Landry's voice sounded a bit down on that piece of news.”

“If we hear anything from them I will advise you.”

“Thank you. Oh, and if you do hear from General O'Neill please tell him he's still needed back at Washington.”

“Understood.” And he broke the connection thoughtfully. It was definitely time for a break.

Woolsey made his way to the dining facility. He was hoping to run into Jack. While he hadn't lied to Landry, he wasn't a hundred percent sure O'Neill was still on Atlantis, but he hadn't been told he'd left either.

Sure enough, the older man was sitting out on the open air area eating a piece of pie. He waved at Woolsey. Richard went through the line, picked up a pastry and coffee and went over to where he sat.

“So, still here I see.” He said in a friendly tone.

“Yeah, I keep sleeping late and then Carson takes me fishing with him and the days just seem to go too fast.”

“I understand. It's easy to enjoy life here.” Woolsey replied with a smile. Then he changed the subject. “Jack, I hate to bring this up but Landry called me this morning.”

“Really? Is it time for me to hit the road?”

“No, no. Please don't take it that way. But he did say that someone in Washington wanted to talk to you because you're still needed.”

“Hum, I'm not impressed at all.” Jack commented. “You'd think with all those experienced, talented geniuses that they wouldn't need an 'old school, militaristic, washed up, out of touch, hard headed soldier' to help manage the program.”

“Hum indeed.” Woolsey shook his head remembering the fiasco that the briefing they had attended had turned into. “You'd think they'd value experience. Oh, and thank you for sending Sheppard out of the room. I thought they were going to call security when he stood up and slammed his fist on the table.”

“No problem. They don't understand.” Jack sighed. “Commanding a front line operation is more by your gut, or the feelings you get.” He looked at his host. “Sheppard understands and you're learning. You can't always command by the book, or even using common sense.”

“I'm beginning to, though it is difficult to learn when my career has been mostly by the book.”

“Yeah, I know. I remember.” Jack chuckled. “You were a real pain in my ass. It's kind of fun watching you squirm.” 

“Speaking of squirming,” Richard commented. “The General also wanted to know if we'd heard from SG1. You haven't been in contact with Daniel have you?

“No." Jack looked up concerned. "What's going on?”

“Landry said the SG1 hasn't checked in in two days. He didn't say they were late exactly but he did ask. Do you think it was a ploy to ascertain whether or not you were still here?”

Jack's demeanor changed. “Two days is not unusual but, depending on the mission, it could be a problem. To answer your question, no I haven't heard from him. Of course, my cell phone only works on earth. You'd do better looking for him by opening a wormhole and scanning for him, with his subcutaneous transponder.”

“Do you know what planet they are on?” Woolsey asked curiously. “We can try it if you think it would be helpful. They wouldn't even know we'd done it. There would be no risk.”

“You don't mind?” Jack asked quietly. “I would like to know they were safe.”

“Of course, we couldn't tell Landry.” Woolsey commented. “He doesn't know Daniel has one of our transponders and I'd prefer to keep that a secret.”

“Me too. And to answer your other question, yes I would like to know.” Jack smiled at him. “That they are okay. They are on Dakara and yes I know the address.”

Woolsey smiled, drank the rest of his coffee and put his cup down. “Very well, lets go find out what we can find out.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets concerned about SG1

When Woolsey and O'Neill arrived at Atlantis's embarkation room Sheppard and McKay were already there. McKay was lying on his back under the communication area with several crystals lying close to him. Sheppard was standing close by listening to his friend curse. 

“John, hand me the B3 crystal, the short yellow one.” his voice was muffled. “I don't understand what happened in here.” The Colonel obediently picked the correct crystal and handed it to him. “This is what happens when people don't follow protocol. It's not like we have the modulation for Nextel programed into the console.”

“Chuck?” Woolsey looked at the red faced technician. “What happened?”

“I'm not sure Sir.” he answered honestly. “The communication area lit up like we were receiving a message from a jumper. I answered it per protocol and then patched it through to your earwig. I'm sorry if I did something wrong.”

“Didn't you think it was a bit odd since we don't have any jumpers out?” McKay crawled out from under the desk. 

“Maybe it was an F series from Earth. I didn't want to refuse the call.”

Woolsey frowned. “Calm down Doctor McKay. The call was legitimate. It was from the SGC.”

Rodney waved a clouded gold tinted crystal. “Well, I hope it was important.” He complained. “And I hope the SGC has some more of these. I don't know where on Earth I can get any more of these...literally!”

“Radio Shack?” Sheppard replied in a terribly serious tone.

Rodney just rolled his eyes. “Fine. Have supply request me a case. Oh, and by the way order some of the red ones you like to blow up so much too.” He handed the crystal to John. 

Sheppard just shrugged. “Think Landry can spare a few of these, Sir?”

Jack took the damaged crystal from him. “If he doesn't, Carter will. She carries a bag of them when they go off world.”

“I didn't see her.” Rodney looked up at Jack. 

“She was at Area 51 last I heard.”

“Really?” the scientist reached for Sheppard's hand for a help up. “I thought you were...tight.”

“Once we thought we were too.” Jack replied thoughtfully. “But luckily we both came to our senses before we made a terrible mistake.”

McKay nodded. “I understand. People like us, Sam and I, well we're kind of hard to live with. We don't necessarily want to be but we are.” He glanced at John. “The good thing about Atlantis is that there are a lot of us here.” he shrugged. “We manage not to kill or get killed in our interpersonal relationships.”

“Really. That's” Jack pursed his lips in thought. “that's good to know.”

“Yes, well.” Woolsey interrupted. “Is the Gate functional?”

McKay appeared insulted. “Of course. The radio slash phone was broken, not the Star Gate.”

“Where do you want to go?” John asked looking at Jack. “Back to the SGC?”

“No, actually to Dakara.” O'Neill replied. “at least where Daniel told me he was going. I assume that Teal'c called and asked them to come, possibly for him to help.” he shrugged. “He has a knack for diplomacy and he speaks several of the languages used by the various Jaffa. If they were having problems, he'd be the one they'd call.”

“Wow, Dakara. That's where the giant Ancient weapon is located right?” Rodney looked at O'Neill curiously.

“Giant Space Gun.” Jack agreed enthusiastically making a fist and shaking it at the ceiling. “That just has a ring to it doesn't it?”

Rodney looked at him with a glazed over expression. “Yeah. Doesn't it.”

Sheppard glanced at Woolsey. “Uh Oh. I think they're in love.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and friends go to Dakara looking for SG1

After opening the Star Gate to Dakara and activating Daniel's subcutaneous transponder Rodney was able to determine that the archaeologist was indeed on planet. Sheppard suggested that they take a puddle jumper to the planet under cloak and try to find out why SG1 hadn't reported in to the SGC as scheduled. 

Teal'c and Master Braytac were also known to be on Dakara and Jack didn't foresee any problems but then, when dealing with aliens even friendly ones, the situations could always go south at the drop of his favorite baseball cap.

Woolsey allowed Sheppard and McKay to go with O'Neill. Sheppard to pilot and McKay to go and see the honking big space gun as it was beginning to be known. O'Neill could have probably flown the little ship but there was the matter of getting it in and out of the flight bay safely and managing the coordinates and cloak at the same time. Jack had been a very good pilot but he was the first to admit he was a bit rusty.

After entering through the Star Gate, it was decided to go in uncloaked. They were going into the spaceport of one of Earth's allies. They approached the large flat area that already had several ships parked in its space. 

As they disembarked, a small party of armed warriors approached them. Jack took lead and waved at them. “Hi, guys. How's it going for you?”

The leader of the squad was a huge golden skinned warrior with the symbol of Cronus on his forehead. “You are O'Neill from SG1.”

“Why yes, yes I am. Nice of you to remember.”

“I am Bomar. We met in combat many years ago. You fought bravely.”

“As did you all.” O'Neill smiled widely. “Say, we're looking for Teal'c or Daniel Jackson. Any idea where we can find him?”

The Jaffa nodded. “Master Teal'c and Doctor Jackson are involved in a legal matter.” he pointed towards the largest building. “Master Braytac is there also.” he then waved his staff weapon at John and Rodney. “Who are these Tau'ri that accompany you?

Jack motioned the two others to come forward. “This is Colonel John Sheppard and Doctor Rodney McKay.” 

“Will Teal'c also call them friend?”

“We know Teal'c, but not well.” Sheppard spoke truthfully. “We know he is a great warrior and I hope he thinks well of us as well.”

“What kind of legal matter?” McKay asked.

The Jaffa returned it with a bland expression and shrugged. “I do not know exactly. I know it involves Qetesh.” 

“Wait a minute. Vala was Qetesh but the Tok'ra took it out of her.”O'Neill objected. “We'd know. We have tests to check. If she was a Gould we'd know. Teal'c know she's clear.”

“So he did say, as did Master Braytac.” he replied. “But one of the council was a Jaffa to the false goddess. He knew her, and he insists that he can sense the Goa'uld within her.” Bomar continued. “We did not remove it so we have no proof. He's insisting she be tested.” He nodded to the three humans. “Follow me.”

Sheppard looked at O'Neill as they walked towards the larger of the buildings in the city. “That can't be good.”

O'Neill frowned. “No, that would definitely put a crimp in the meeting. It's probably why the SGC hasn't been able to reach them.”

As they traveled to the city, Rodney craned his neck looking at the damaged structures. “Where's the weapon?”

Jack turned and walked backwards, pointing towards a large stone ruin on the outskirts. “Well, that was the building.” he then indicated a large metallic structure inside the destroyed edifice. “And I guess that was the weapon.”

“What? It's been destroyed?” Rodney wailed. He stopped and stared at the superstructure. “What happened to it?”

“The Jaffa allowed Carter and her dad to use it against the Replicators. They damaged it.” O'Neill shook his head sadly. “I hadn't seen it since then. Didn't know it was this bad.”

“Damn,” Sheppard said softly. “It would have been so cool.”

“Has anyone tried to fix it?” Rodney asked interestedly.

“No, the political problems between us still exist.” Jack admitted wryly. “We are allies with the Jaffa but there are some of the leaders who don't trust us completely yet. This thing with Vala is not gonna help.”

“Don't they want to get it fixed?” Sheppard asked.

“I would imagine so.” Jack agreed. “It would only make sense since this is their working capital. They lost quite a few Jaffa supporting us in the war and defending the Galaxy, well the Milky Way Galaxy, with their troops. It would be a good thing if we could manage to repair it for them.”

In a few minutes they reached a large building that was in the center of the city. The Jaffa leader dismissed his squad and turned to look disbelievingly at the three Tau'ri. “You can repair the Weapon?”

Sheppard replied. “Well, there's no guarantee. At the least we'd need to take a look at it. Rodney?”

“Hum, we can try.” Rodney commented. “We've been working on Ancient weapons for several years now and we're still alive. If the gun's mechanism is still intact I might be able to get it working again.”

O'Neill smiled at Bomar. “Hey, it couldn't hurt to try.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did SG1 get into now. Flashback time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If your reading this by chapters, there were a few changes to chap 11. Also, not to be a whiny baby, I'd really like some comments on what you think.

Daniel Jackson paced unhappily back and forth in his ten by ten cell. While it was a cell it did possess all the comforts available with comfortable beds, rich appointments and complete private facilities. And they could still see each other as they waited. Occasionally he would glance concernedly at the cell on his left. Vala Mal Doran sat there staring morosely at the cell's floor. Mitchell was in the cell to his right apparently napping. At least, he mused, Teal'c was still loose based solely on the words of Braytac. Too bad he hadn't managed to keep his own temper when they were taken into custody. Channeling Jack O'Neill had not been a wise decision on his part.

Ever since their arrival on the planet Dakara, the trip had been a disaster. Teal'c and Braytac were trying to convince the Jaffa High Council to continue their alliance with Earth and to actually increase their interaction. The Council was unwilling to continue their Pact blaming the Tau'ri for the invasion of the Ori that destroyed their city and the Ancient Weapon.

Daniel had hoped to smooth things over by offering aide and materials to the struggling people. He wanted to rebuild the trust between them. Instead, SG1 had inadvertently rekindled an old hatred.

 

(Two days earlier.)

 

On their arrival, everything appeared to go smoothly. Braytac and Teal'c welcomed them warmly and introduced SG1 to the High Council. After renewing their acquaintance with several previous members, Braytac proudly introduced a new council member, a tall swarthy man of apparently Semitic origin, wearing robes and a turban. “And this is Ali Ibn Hassan. His Jaffa came forth to assist during the war for Dakara.”

“We are honored to make your acquaintance.” Daniel smiled. “It is always a pleasure to meet a great warrior of the Jaffa nation.”

The man nodded to Daniel and glanced at the other two humans. His gaze landed on Vala and his eyes widened. In a loud voice he exclaimed. “What is this mockery!”

“What do you mean?” Braytac replied just as loudly. “These are great warriors of the Tau'ri.”

The man stepped forward pointing at Vala. “That is no Taur'i.” he shouted. “That is Qetesh. False Goddess, Bitch of Immorality and Whore of Ba'al.”

Vala stood white faced and shocked. “What do you mean? Who are you?”

The man had pushed his turban back and revealed the Golden Crescent Moon and Disk the mark of Qetesh's First Prime. “Do you not recognize me, Qetesh? Do you not remember your loyal First Prime?”

Vala looked thunderstruck and it actually took her a moment to respond. “Ali, I I thought you were dead!”

“But you did not care enough to find out, My Queen.” he replied sarcastically. “I who served you so faithfully.”

“But, I had been captured in battle.” The woman tried to explain without success. “The Tok'ra freed me from Qetesh like the Jaffa freed Baal’s host. I am free. I am human again.”

“I did not see this. I do not believe it.” Ali stated harshly. “The Tok'ra are only another breed of Goa'uld.”

“But,” Teal'c admonished. “We do know it is possible. I myself saw the Tollen remove Klorel from the Abydonian Skaara so it has been done by others.”

“You support the Tau'ri with this story as you support them in many things, Teal'c. It is said you are the First Prime of O'Neill and faithful to that False God. I do not believe you.”

Mitchell spoke up. “Just a minute. Jack O'Neill is not a damned System Lord. He's a great military commander among our people. But he's never claimed to be anything more than that.

“O'Neill is a great leader among the Taur'i!” Teal'c said solemnly. “And he is my battle brother. Be careful what you say.”

But Braytac was not so calm. “Teal'c would not lie. He is the Blood Kin to all Jaffa.” The old warrior stated angrily. “Would you doubt the man who helped save us?”

“Saving the Jaffa only for us to serve our new masters.” Ali waved an arm in the direction of the ruins. “Only for us to die as your slaves as we have done for the Goa'uld. I demand proof of her humanness and demand proof of the Taur'i's good intentions. We are free. We need no one.” He gestured towards SG1. “Imprison them until their innocence is proven.”

“You are making a mistake.” Daniel shouted as the guards surrounded them to lead them away. “We are your Allies. Vala is not a Goa'uld. We only want to help you rebuild. This is a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?” Ali raised his eyebrow. “Are you implying I am stupid little man?”

Teal'c stepped forward and grasped Ali under his chin surrounding the man's throat with his large powerful hand. “Daniel Jackson is my blood brother. You may question him, you may doubt him but you may not insult him.”

“Teal'c no!” Daniel twisted around in his unenthusiastic captor's hands. “Teal'c!”

Braytac nodded at his young human friend and stepped forward to lay his hand on his infuriated friend's arm. “Teal'c. Daniel Jackson is right. Do not lead us into bloodshed. We will follow our laws.”

Teal'c held a moment then released Ali. “You are correct. I will not destroy the very thing that we have worked so hard for at the words of this calot.” He turned to face SG1. “We will prove the truth of our alliance with the Taur'i.” He glared at the leader of the guards. "You! You keep them safe and well."

The leader of the squad bowed his head to Teal'c and the Jaffa guards escorted SG1 out of the room.

As they walked down the long hall, Mitchell shook his head. “Don't worry, Vala. We'll get this figured out.”

Daniel smiled at her. “You know we can trust Teal'c.”

“I hope so. I just hope there's a way to prove to Ali I'm not her. You see, Qetesh killed his family.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack, John and Rodney hit Dakara and try to find out what's going on with SG1

Chap 13

O'Neill, Sheppard and McKay entered the large imposing building and looked around. A young man in some old style Jaffa armor approached them. “Taur'i Kree! What do you here in the Great Hall?” He asked in passable English.

“Oh, hi there.” O'Neill smiled at him. “We're friends of Teal'c. Is the big guy hanging around?”

“Master Teal'c is speaking to the Council.”

“Great, that's where we need to be.” O'Neill replied. “I hear there's a little problem that needs clearing up. We're here to do that for you.”

“And who are you that brings this information?”

“O'Neill!” Teal'c's familiar voice called out from behind the youth. “O'Neill, my friend. It is good to see you.” The big man walked swiftly towards the group.

“Hey, T. How's it hanging?” Jack called out a greeting to the Jaffa.

“With difficulty I fear.” They clasped arms. 

“Ah, same old same old, hey.” O'Neill's smile disappeared. “So what's going on? We heard there was a little problem. Thought maybe we could help.” Teal'c glanced at his two companions. “Oh, you know Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay from Atlantis.”

“Indeed.” Teal'c nodded to the two men. “Ordinarily I would welcome you all to Dakara. However, now is not an auspicious time.”

Sheppard smiled. “Good to see you anyway. What's going on?”

“Let us go to my quarters where we can discuss this with more privacy.” Teal'c nodded to the young man and led them away from the entrance hall.

Once they reached Teal'c's apartment in the next building, the Jaffa removed his outer cloak and slung it over a chair. He directed them to a spacious seating area and went into another small room off to the side. “It is good to see you, O'Neill. May I offer you some refreshments.” he called.

“Yeah, sure.” O'Neill motioned Sheppard and McKay into the comfortably appointed room. “Got any beer?”

“In fact I do. I have grown to enjoy the taste.” He went to a small cooling device and pulled four bottles. 

O'Neill took three and handed them around.

Sheppard and McKay had been talking quietly between themselves about the buildings, the weapon and their reception. As he took the bottle proffered by Jack Sheppard commented. “So things are not good?”

Teal'c nodded. “Indeed they are not.”

“Where's the rest of SG1?” McKay asked from his perch on a couch. “Are they still in a meeting?”

Teal'c sat down next to O'Neill. “No, they are in fact in prison awaiting the council’s determination of Vala's status.”

“Her status?” Jack looked at him in surprise. “What status?”

Teal'c took a deep breath and faced his old commander. “During the Ori incursion, several of our High Council Members were killed. One of the new council members, Ali Ibn Hassan was unfortunately the First Prime of Qetesh. He insists that Vala is a Gao'uld and should be prosecuted.” 

“Well that's silly.” O'Neill commented. “Why would we have a Gould following SG1 around? Where's Mitchell and Daniel?”

“Also in cells even though Braytac and I spoke out for them.” Seeing O'Neill's expression he continued. “They are safe and all are in comfortable circumstances, In fact the men are not restrained but they insist upon remaining with Vala.”

“Didn't somebody tell him her Gould is gone? Jack asked heatedly.

“Indeed I did.” Teal'c nodded. “He does not wish to believe her story. He said he does not know nor trust the Tok'ra.”

Sheppard looked curiously at the big man. "Who are the Tok'ra?'

O'Neill grimaced as he took a drink of beer. "They were a race we met early on, Kind of an underground resistance to the Gould. Too smart and too advanced to give us any help but they were never shy about needing it. Then they left. As far as we know they're all dead."

“So what do they want to do? Don't they have a test or something?” Rodney asked. 

“I am unsure of what test would convince him.” Teal'c sighed. “I have sworn it to him but he rejects my words.”

“And Braytac?” Jack asked. “He doesn't believe him either?”

“No, and it is causing a riff amongst the council.” his friend replied. “I do not believe he can be dissuaded from his belief.”

“So, can we see them?” Rodney asked impatiently.

“Indeed. I will take you there now. They are in no danger but they are not happy,”

"Trash?" O'Neill asked. Teal'c indicated a large colorful vase against the wall. O'Neill finished his beer and pitched the empty container into the trash receptacle. He air pumped with his fist. “Yeah! Two points. Come on lets see what we can do to save SG1 from Vala's petard. I'm on a roll.”

As the two Atlanteans got up followed John looked at Rodney. "What the hell is a petard?"

Rodney returned his look. "It's a small...nevermind, I'll explain later."


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Dakara they find out the problem.

After the short rest at Teal'c's apartment, he guided his friends to the cells that housed there teammates. As they entered the antechamber that faced the cells. Jack stopped and looked at his old friend. “Daniel? Why is it that every time you go off without me you get into trouble?”

The younger man quickly gained his feet and left his cell to clasp his friend's hand. “Jack! What are you doing here?” Daniel glanced at O'Neill's two companions. “Sheppard, McKay, he brought you into this too?”

“Yes, yes. It seems that you all needed rescuing and that we might be needed.” McKay replied. “I see you've managed to get yourself captured yet again.”

Mitchell sauntered out of his quarters. “Well, it wasn't Jackson's fault this time.” He nodded at the group. “It seems we have a misunderstanding here about Vala's status.”

“So we heard.” Jack commented. “There seems to be a problem with her split personality identification.”

Vala rose from her cot and came over to the her cell door. Hers was securely and significantly locked closed. “General O'Neill. I'm sorry for this, but the Jaffa do not want to believe me when I say that Qetesh is gone and dead.”

“That's what we've heard.” Jack replied in a calming voice. “We'll try to get them to believe that the Tok'ra really did do the job.” he continued. 

“If you mean the removal, I don't know the name of the Tok'ra or even if he's still alive much less where they are.” Vala shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

“We know that it can be done.” Daniel added sadly. “But our proof is not readily available.”

“Why? Who is it?” Mitchell asked.

“It's Skarra, Daniel's brother in law.” O'Neill answered. “But he's all glowy now.”

“What? Glowy? You mean in like...ascended?”

Daniel answered frowning. “Yes, When the Goa'uld destroyed Abydos the people were rescued by Oma Desala. She ascended. everyone.”

“I don't know if I'd call that much of a rescue.” Mitchell grimaced. 

“Better than dying I guess.” O'Neill replied grimly. “But aside from that, we need to get all of you out of here.” He looked over at McKay. “Okay, plan B. McKay, do you think you really can fix the gun?”

McKay looked a little startled at the request. “I, uh, well I'd need to see it up close. It depends on how much damage was done.”

“McKay can do it.” Sheppard nodded. “He can fix anything on Atlantis. What could be harder than that?”

“Uh, lots.” the scientist said looking at his friend. “It could be totally melted down. I can't promise anything until I see it.”

“Well, lets see if we can get a look at it.” O'Neill smiled encouragingly. “Maybe we can get something to bargain with here.” He looked over at their host. “Teal'c, can we get to the gun?”

“There should be no problem. It is considered worthless, unable to be repaired and so is not guarded.” The big man replied. 

“Wait,” Rodney said warningly. “Don't do this to me.”

“Hey, you say you are the smartest guy in Pegasus. And you got the smartest guy in the Milky Way," he indicated Daniel, "Plus Sheppard to back you up.”

“Daniel? What about Sam?” McKay almost bleated. “What can Daniel do?”

“You'd only fight with Carter.” O'Neill reasoned. “Daniel's used to working with her and he gets the damnedest ideas. And Sheppard can turn stuff on if you need him to.”

“Wait, you want him to fix the big gun if they'll turn Vala loose?” Mitchell suddenly realized what O'Neill was working for. “What if he can't fix it?”

All three of them looked at him. “McKay's job is miracles.” Jack replied. “He gets paid a lot of money for that. It's time he worked some magic around here or he'll get out of practice.”

“What about me?” Mitchell asked.

“You stay with Vala so she doesn't get disappeared while we're otherwise occupied.” Jack grinned at Teal'c “Meanwhile, T and I will go do the political thing.”

Teal'c had been watching the Taur'is with amusement. “Indeed. And with Daniel Jackson assisting them they cannot fail.”

McKay looked around the room. Teal'c appeared satisfied, O'Neill looked calm, Mitchell seemed concerned, Jackson bemused and Sheppard, well Sheppard merely sat back and looked at him. “It's not fair you know.” he groused.

O'Neill just smiled and looked at Teal'c. “So, lets go talk turkey to the politicians and the kids can go look at the honking big space gun.”

“Indeed.” Teal'c smiled back at his old friend. “I will enjoy meeting this turkey.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its taken so long. Real Life has been hitting rather hard around here. But I'll try to do better.

Jack O'Neill was tired, pissed, frustrated, and harboring very unflattering opinions about Ali Baba and his forty morons.

He, Teal'c and even old Braytac had argued themselves blue in the face with the ex First Prime of Qetesh. The man refused to accept that Vala was free of her symbiote influence. He'd even gone so far as to intimate that he, Jack O'Neill, was a System Lord and Teal'c was his right hand Jaffa. Jack didn't know which part had been harder for him to swallow, the insults to him or to his friend.

The only thing he could hope, and he did count on the little geek, was that McKay could fix the damned gun. Sheppard had expressed his faith in his CSO and Jack did know the man was very talented but that gun had looked pretty fried to him. When he'd ordered the gun rendered inoperable, he'd never figured that anything like this would happen, at least during his watch. Good intentions indeed were paving his way to hell. Heck, he didn't even know what Carter had done to the damned thing. Surely, McKay could fix it. Sheppard had been positive. The two friends were making their way back to Teal'c's quarters.

“O'Neill.”

“Yeah, T?”

“You are quiet.”

“Yeah, just thinking about bad decisions and future problems.”

“You thought it was a good decision to destroy the gun when you originally made it.”

“Yeah, well, I've thought that a couple of times.”

“Daniel Jackson often says that Hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

Jack smiled, nodded and glanced over at his friend. “Yeah, and Daniel is often right like that.”

“Especially about you.” the big man paced silently beside him for a few more steps. “I am not unhappy to be referred to as your First Prime. It would have been an honor to serve one such as you instead of the cruel false god Apophis.”

“Thanks, I think.” Jack smiled at him.

“But why do you change your mind now?”

“About the gun?” Jack looked at him and smiled grimly. “At the time I made the decision, I thought that the SGC with me in some sort of control we could continue to support your people with protection until you all got organized. But now,” he threw his hands in the air. “Now, I'm odd man out. Nobody wants to listen, nobody wants to hear. It's like they haven't learned anything from the Goa'uld, the replicators, or the Ori. They seem think that we can just wave our hands and everything will go away.” He stopped and looked at his friend extending his hand. Teal'c took it in his and looked at Jack curiously. “This, this is what we need. We need allies. We need the Jaffa. You guys are the only ones who came through for us. The Asgard is gone, the Tok'ra ran off and God knows what happened to the Tollan.” Jack turned and trudged towards the space gun. “So, I've rethought leaving you unarmed against the universe. You need that gun to protect yourself from whatever new thing shows up. You know, Godzilla, Mothra, that type of bad guy.”

“So you wish McKay to repair the gun so that we can protect ourselves against monsters?”

“Teal'c. I want you to protect yourselves against whatever threatens you.” Jack grimanced “I don't care what it is. You need to be secure in your new civilization. If the SGC doesn't like it, they can take it up with me and then I'll head for the second star to the right and straight on til morning.”

“You will go to Neverland?” Teal'c asked with a twitch of his right eyebrow.

“Or maybe Atlantis.” He shrugged. “You never know.”

“I hear the fishing is quite good.”

“So do I T, so do I.”

McKay, Sheppard and Jackson were standing around the dismembered interior of the weapon's control panel. 

“So,” McKay looked at the various crystals and connections that were lying hither and thither in the space of the console. Then he glanced at Daniel. “Just what happened here?”

“I have no idea.” Jackson replied innocently. “I wasn't here. Sam did it.”

“And where were you if not here helping her?”

“Hum, I was sort of mid ascension.”

“Mid ascension? Doing what?”

“Arguing with Oma Desala and Anubis about not destroying Earth.” he smiled slightly.

“Sooo,” Sheppard looked thoughtful. “You were dead?”

“Kinda.”

“And how did you die?” 

“Replicator Sam killed me when I lost track of what her minions were doing.” Daniel shuffled his feet. “It was difficult. She uh, stabbed me with her sword arm. It hurt.”

“I bet.” Sheppard commented dryly.

“Okay, well.” Rodney frowned and started to rearrange the crystals. “So, you don't know what she did, the real Sam I mean.”

“No not really. Sorry. At best when Sam's on one of her techno babble jags I can get an overview. Most of the time I just make the coffee and hand her stuff.”

John nodded. “I know that feeling.”

“At least you can turn the power on.” Daniel smiled at the pilot. “I can operate some Ancient technology but I can't initialize it like you or Jack can.”

Rodney looked at the two of them. “Okay, let's get started. John, you turn this on and Daniel, please find me some coffee.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, but can they fix the big honking space gun?

Cameron came into the cell area carrying a tray of food. The Jaffa, though they were keeping them here on the planet, were not harsh jailers. Food was good and available at all hours. He got the feeling that Ali was not a favorite and his behavior was not approved of by all the other citizens here.

Vala was lying on her cot staring up at the ceiling. He kicked the door frame. “Come on Vala, snack time. Wakey wakey.”

She sat up languidly without much interest. “What, are you trying to do? Fatten me up?”

“Well,” Cam smiled at her. “The General is with the council trying to argue you out. Jackson is with the Atlantean contingent trying to fix the space gun. And I'm here with you. Two handed poker is boring so I thought we'd eat.”

The dark haired woman looked at him curiously. “Why the gun? I thought he was the one who ordered it destroyed.”

“Yeah, he was.” Cameron put the tray down and handed her a cup of hot instant coffee from an MRE pack. “I guess O'Neill thinks you're important enough to fix it and use it for a bargaining chip.”

“Well, that's nice of him.” Vala perked up a bit at this bit of news. “I didn't think he liked me much.”

“Oh, I think he likes you well enough, but the first time he heard of you you'd tried to kidnap Jackson.”

“Really.” she looked at him with a grin. “I didn't know he cared that much.”

“His Space Monkey? C'mon now. You know how fond O'Neill is of Jackson.”

“Space Monkey? What's that anyway? I've never seen one of those and I've been around a lot.” She stood up and came over to the door, accepting the tray with its steaming cup. 

“I don't know.” Mitchell handed her a pastry. “But I do know there are memos in Jackson's files involving the borrowing of his Archaeologist. It seems in the old days, our buddy had a bad habit of being kidnapped, tortured, and killed when not properly monitored.” Mitchell pulled a chair up next to the door. “They had to sign it and leave a copy with O'Neill and General Hammond.”

“And then?” she asked tilting her head.

“Then he died anyways, and on his watch.” He frowned and stole a cookie thing from her plate. “The General was on an unofficial suicide watch for a little over a year.” Cam continued to talk with his mouth full. “When Hammond tried to fill Jackson's place he kept turning everyone down.”

“Sam said there was an alien, some guy named Jonas, who was on the team.” Vala commented.

“Yeah, well, as soon as Jackson came back unascended Jonas took a hike. There were some theories about him being a mole for his planet. Anyway, he left and O'Neill never talked about him again so there was obviously no love lost.”

“I thought he was a humanoid at least.” Vala took a bite from a red fruit. “Not a rodent.”

“I've heard Jonas referred to as a rat, and I think it was O'Neill too.”

“Hum, maybe it was his teeth. There's this show on Friday nights where that can happen. It's about a policeman who has these special powers.”

 

“Wait, how many times were you ascended? John asked the Archaeologist.

“Well, technically, only once. The second time I was like in a half way house.” Daniel answered with what seemed to be embarrassment. “I didn't quite get there the second time.”

“Why not?” Rodney's voice came out from under the control panel. “Only once per customer?”

“Well, they didn't think I was worth another trip I guess.” He shrugged. “I guess me dropping out the first time was enough.”

“So, you weren't here for this mess?”

“Nope. I think it was Sam and her Dad who did it.” 

"Her Dad?" Sheppard looked at him oddly. "I don't remember him."

"Well, he was an Air Force General who was dying of cancer and he decided to become a host for a Tok'ra. He died right after this. Jacob was a good guy."

"Jacob Carter?" John asked. "I wondered what happened to him."

"Yeah, when he died our last tie to the Tok'ra died with him."

Rodney crawled out from under the machine and took Sheppard's hand to get to his feet. “Well, thank goodness they didn't do too much damage. They just basically unplugged all the crystals and left them lay.” 

“So you can fix it?” His Colonel asked.

“Well, yeah. It's not really broken, just disassembled.” The scientist dusted his hands and wiped them on his pants. “No big problem. It's just a matter of figuring out which crystal goes where.”

“So good news for O'Neill.” John stated. “Let's get back to the rooms and let him know he's got a real bargaining chip.”

As the three men walked out, Rodney looked at Daniel. “Twice. So how did it feel to die?”

“It hurts Rodney. I don't recommend it.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Plan comes together.

The two groups met back at the cell area to discuss what The Plan was going to be. Jack shook his head and chuckled back in his throat. “So, Carter disobeyed my direct orders.”

“Yeah, if you told her to destroy the gun, she didn't.” Rodney replied as he sketched out the gun's inner diagram on some paper stuff Teal'c had provided. “They just took all the crystals out and put them down in a hodgepodge pile. I just have to figure out where they go in the grid.”

“But that's good, right?” Vala glanced back and forth between the men. “It's easier to fix.”

“Yes, yes, much easier.” Rodney agreed absentmindedly as he worked.

Daniel looked concernedly at his old team chief. “But you ordered Sam to destroy it. Why?”

Teal'c twitched slightly. “O'Neill was not sure that the Jaffa could be trusted with a weapon of such power.”

Sheppard looked concerned. “But, you're going to fix it now?” He glanced at the woman. “No offense to Vala but what's changed?”

O'Neill sighed. “Well, honestly, I'm rethinking myself because of several new developments. I don't like the IOA's cut backs. Atlantis is not the only problem. The Tretonian production has also been cut. Now, we're teaching the Jaffa how to manufacture it and its all good, but there's also a cutback on the security of our allies. Most of them are okay with it but the Jaffa's liberation was actually initiated by our war with the Goa'uld. I don't want to leave them high and dry with no protection.” He looked at SG1. “We saw what almost happened with the Ori. They need weapons besides what we are willing to give them. This is their planet, so its their gun.”

“And then there's Vala.” Daniel spoke softly. “We don't leave anyone behind.”

O'Neill grinned at his old friend. “And then there's Vala.” He nodded at her. “I don't leave anyone behind. I may not like the method but I will like the result if I can arrange for her freedom without causing problems with an ally.”

“What if he won't let me leave?” Vala asked. “Ali seems to hate my former mistress a lot.”

“But if you offer to fix the gun, the others on the council will override him and agree to release Vala.” Teal'c commented dryly. “She is easily of less value than the weapon.”

“Thanks Muscles.” she said drily. “But I understand.”

“What if they want to remove the Goa'uld from the host? What if they want to do that to her instead of just release her?”McKay asked.

“We can't let them do that. We don't have a guarantee that the procedure won't injure of even kill her.” Daniel replied making a face. “I've seen it done twice, Klorel and Ba'al. It wasn't easy on the host either time.”

“It's not.” Vala unconsciously rubbed the back of her neck. “The first time nearly killed me. I don't want to try it without a symbiote in my head.”

McKay looked at Vala. “Wait, you were a Goa'uld?”

“Did he miss something?” Vala looked at Sheppard.

“Obviously so.” the Colonel commented. “He gets wrapped up in his work and, while I've heard of Ba'al, who is Klorel?”

No, I did not. I just assumed that he thought you were a Goa'uld but you really weren't."

"Well, I was and a particularly nasty bitch she was. I was glad the Tok'ra squashed her like a bug."

Daniel looked thoughtfully at Sheppard. “Klorel was the Goa'uld who possessed my brother-in-law, Skarra. He was removed by the Tollen. Klorel was the off spring of Apophis. He took Skarra the same time Amunet took my wife Shaur'i." Daniel replied as he sat down heavily in his cell. "I would have liked to seen that too." He looked up at Sheppard and McKay. 

“So he's still alive, right.” asked Rodney. Skarra, I mean."

“Well, actually, he's ascended. It's a long story.”

“I'm sure.” John commented to stop Rodney from running into some sensitive history. He'd know Jackson had been through a lot in his career with Stargate Command. He just hadn't realized how much. “So, Rodney, how long will it take?”

“Well if all the crystals are intact, sometime tomorrow if we start now.” He looked at the General. “Is that good?”

O'Neill looked at Teal'c. “Do you think they'll go for it?”

“I believe that it is a very good deal.” He raised an eyebrow at Vala. “An operational weapon is worth several dead, false gods. I cannot imagine the offer being refused.”

“Well, let's tell Braytac.” O'Neill smiled wolfishly. “And get the show on the road.” Then he looked at Daniel. “You come along and explain it to anyone that doesn't understand.” Daniel just smiled and shook his head. Jack glanced at Rodney and said in a commanding British accent. “Make it so.” Then the three old team mates left the room.

“I am not Spock, but I'll fix the thing.” McKay grumbled.

“I think that would be O'Brian, or Worf, not Spock.” Sheppard chuckled as they left the room. "We're talking Next Generation here and he is definitely Picard."

“Maybe, but you're still Kirk.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final finagle.

The alarm at Stargate Command rang and Walter Harriman quickly sounded off. “Incoming wormhole.” He checked his console. “It's SG1.”

Landry strode out of his office. “It's about damned time. Open the Iris.”

The General watched as his premier team sauntered out into the gate room. Mitchell, Jackson and Mal Doran all appeared intact and uninjured. Landry hurried down the steps to the gate room floor. “Where have you three been?”

“General we've been on Dakara. Why? Was there a problem?” Mitchell asked innocently.

“Why didn't you answer your radios?”

“Well, gee Sir. We didn't hear them among all the hollering going on.” Cam replied affably. 

“What hollering?” the general motioned them to the hallway. “Never mind. You go see Medical then report to my office. I want to be sure you are all alright before I start my own hollering.”

“General, we're fine.” Jackson assured him. “There was a little misunderstanding but we got it sorted out. We weren't mistreated or anything.”

Vala looked askance at him. “Speak for yourself, Daniel. I was treated horribly.”

Landry eyed her suspiciously. “Go get checked out then we can talk.” the older man shook his head at the team. “I want to hear all about this misunderstanding.”

 

On Atlantis, their three representatives to Dakara were also seeing their Doctor. Becket was checking O'Neill for any signs of stress or fatigue. “General, er Jack. Have you ever had and residual problems from gate travel?”

“No, I've always checked out fine but it has been several years. Why?”

“Oh, just need a baseline. You appear fine, though I would like to have a copy of your records if you're going to stay on with us.”

“Maybe I can get Daniel to get them for me.” Jack smiled at him. “He's learned a lot about hacking from working with Carter.”

“Rodney can get them while we're still on Earth.” Sheppard called out from an adjoining bed. “He's been hacking the SGC since we've been back.”

“Ah, well that's comforting.” O'Neill grumbled, shaking his head. “The highest security encrypted system on Earth, designed by Carter to keep us all safe from incursion and McKay hacked it for fun.”

“No, no, no.” Rodney sat up in his bed and brushed the medic off. “I didn't do it for fun. I did it to protect Atlantis from fools like the IOA. I know they think they know best, but they haven't a clue about the city.”

“So you were spying?”

“Well, yes. You said it yourself, since you moved to the Pentagon things are not going as well for us as they were when you were in charge.”

“I told them I couldn't be The Man.” Jack sighed. “I had not control at all.”

Woolsey entered the clinic and smiled at the older man. “You couldn't control it. The IOA can't control themselves, how could you. I'm afraid you set your goals too high, General.”

“Well, I did fix the problem on Dakara.” Jack groused. “But it took the three smartest men in two galaxies to do it.”

“What did you all do, by the way?”

Sheppard smiled over at his friend who was objecting to something the corpsman was trying to do to him. “Rodney and I fixed the big space gun that Sam and her Tok'ra dad had disassembled. Well, Rodney did the fixing and I turned things on and off as needed. Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and Bratac convinced the Council to let Vala go home if she promised to never ever come back.”

“So Miss Mal Doran was the problem?”

“Not really her fault. This one guy just thought she was still a Gould. He was the problem.” Jack replied. “Like we'd let one run around with us. Or even that Daniel would.” he chuckled. “Daniel is many things but what people seem to forget is how dangerous he actually is.”

“Cam helped too. He stayed with Vala and kept her from disappearing.” John commented as the doctor smiled at him and allowed him to leave the bed.

“Yeah, they all helped. Everyone helped. So why can't I leave? John's leaving.” Rodney complained.

The nurse looked at Carson who came over to McKay's side. “You didna eat properly, Rodney. You're blood sugar is very low. An IV is the quickest was to regulate it.”

“It's because I was working while everyone else was talking.” the scientist glared at the two officers. 

“Yes, yes he was.” Jack smiled at Rodney. “He was the real answer to the problem. When he fixed that honking big space gun, we had a good bargaining chip. Without it, I wasn't sure how we could have gotten Vala out of there without causing some real problems between us and the Jaffa Nation.”

“Oh, well then.” the scientist looked taken aback. “You're welcome, though I think they would have given her back eventually.”

“Probably so, but there's no guaranteeing she would have been in good shape” O'Neill replied. “And she does have a very good shape.”

“I'll say.” Sheppard smiled. “But I'm hungry. Can I buy you lunch, General?”

O'Neill looked at him. Certainly, John but only if you call me....”

“Okay, Jack. But its hard to break the habit.”

“Maybe, but I've been called a lot worse in my career.”

As John, Jack and Richard all left the clinic Rodney sat up in his bed and called after them. “Hey, how about me? Hard working Rodney? You're leaving me here? John, Jack?”

Carson just chuckled and patted his friend on the hand. “Now, Rodney. I'll order us up some trays and we'll have a nice lunch together.”

McKay just glared at him.

 

Cam, Daniel and Vala were just finishing their meals. “So, Ali was your first prime?" Cam asked his team mate.

“Qetesh not mine." she corrected him then continued. "No, he was not.” She set her glass down. “He was a replacement to the Commander, but he was not her First Prime. He was the second Jaffa that served Qetesh as the Prime. I didn't like him and neither did she. One of the few things we did agree on.”

“Do you think he's dangerous to the Jaffa Nation?” Daniel asked from his piece of pie.

“He could be.” She admitted. “He was always very full of himself. Hopefully the other council members will figure it out before he causes too much trouble.” She leaned forward towards her team mates. “Is General O'Neill going to be in trouble for saving me?”

“Only if they can prove anything.” Daniel replied soto voce. “And if they can catch him.”

“So where is he going? Mitchell asked.

“I don't know. I don't think he knows.”

 

Several weeks later, the President looked up to see Brigadier General Landry of Stargate Command entering his office.

“General, how are you? Have a seat.”

“I'm fine, Sir. Thank you for seeing me before the meeting.” Hank smiled nervously and sat uncomfortably on the hard chair in front of the official desk. He hated being the middle man.

“So, what's so important that you needed to precede my Chiefs of Staff?” 

Landry took a deep breath. “I received a letter from Jack O'Neill. In it he asked that I pass it on for him.”

“Oh, really.” the President commented dryly. “What does it say?”

Landry removed the letter from his uniform's front pocket and removed it from its envelope and began to read. 

“Dear Mr. President. 

Please excuse my circuitous way to get this to you but I feel its for the best. I hope all is well with the upper echelons of the government and my old golfing buddies. Since I have left the employ of my country, I've had some time to think. I realized that I am indeed an old war horse who has seen too much fighting and suffering in my life time. I was glad to leave D. C. and pick up my retirement where I left off some ten plus years ago. But, having said that, I know that there are a few skills that i still have that you might need. So I make this offer. I do realize that I cannot be a battle leader anymore. I do not want to be Washington, Grant or even Patton. I am however willing to be your Benjamin Franklin. So if you need an Ambassador at Large, you can reach me through Daniel Jackson or maybe Cameron Mitchell. Worst case scenario, ask Teal'c. Someone will know. So if you need someone shot look elsewhere, but if it involves talking, eating and drinking with my extra terrestrial friends, I'm your man. I should be available for several more months at least.

Good luck, do a good job, and don't yell at the Four Stars. It makes them nervous. 

Yours Truly.  


Jack O'Neill.

 

“That's it?” 

“Yes, Sir. That's it.”

“We still don't know where he's at?”

“No, Sir. He has evidently removed his subcutaneous transmitter. We get no signal at all.”

“Is he on Atlantis?”

“He's not been reported there since he and Dr. Jackson initially were taken there.” Hank shrugged. “Mr. Woolsey keeps saying he's not seen him.”

“Where could he be?”

“Knowing Jack O'Neill sir, he could be anywhere.”

 

In Minnesota O'Neill, Jackson, Sheppard, and McKay were sitting on a fishing dock watching their unmoving bobbers on the calm lake.

“So this is it?” Rodney asked curiously. “This is the great cabin at the lake?”

“This is it.” Daniel nodded and tipped his bottle back to empty the beer.

“It's boring.” the scientist looked over at his friend. “Isn't it boring?”

“It's quiet, Rodney.” Sheppard replied. “It's nice and quiet.”

“Well, sure its quiet, but isn't it like,” he glanced over at their host. “boring?”

Sheppard just shook his head at him. “Quiet.”

“But isn't Atlantis better?” McKay argued. “I mean, at least we have fish there. Even in the Pegasus Galaxy, we had lots of fish.”

“But, here we have oh, lets see,” Daniel answered him. “Restaurants, movie shows, bacon, coffee”

“Beer.” O'Neill added.

“We do have beer in Pegasus.” Sheppard put in. “Beer, wine, whiskey, a kind of rum and Carson did introduce scotch. I think he's still aging it though somewhere down in the bottom of Atlantis.”

“Boring.” McKay commented.

“Not as boring as Siberia.” O'Neill reminded him. Rodney sent him a startled look.

“Vodka.” Sheppard commented absentmindedly, then. “I think we should leave you a puddle jumper. We're not using them much on Earth. You could keep it under a shed and if you need to come in to Atlantis you could use it.”

“Good idea.” Jack mused. “No one else can fly it around here anyway.”

“You can pick me up on the way.” Daniel mused. “Just don't land on the roses.”

“You coming too?” Jack grinned at his friend.

“Jack, I'm almost ready to retire too you know.”

“A two-fer.” Sheppard smiled and made another cast into the calm water.

“Sounds like a plan.” Jack smiled. “I like it.”

McKay got up and dusted his pants off. “I'm going to the bathroom. Anyone want anything.”

“Nope, I think I have it all.” Jack looked around, checked his half full beer bottle and smiled in satisfaction. “Yep, I'm sure.”

**Author's Note:**

> The TV show referred to was the Mod Squad.
> 
> The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest ranking General in the Military. Since Jack is only a 2 star general I figured he still had a reporting official below the President. But this of course is only conjecture.


End file.
